Chapter 2745: Camphor Bug
There were many cultivators in the Big Stone Universe from the Sixverse Association, but they only offered support when the situation on the battlefield became critical.
In general, the universe was nowhere close to as dangerous as people believed it to be, as long as there was no attempt to purge all of Aeternus’s forces from the universe.
However, the arrival of the Progenitor-level corpse king had caused the Big Stone Empire to panic. They felt truly lucky that Lu Yin had also arrived at the same time.
This was why the emperor was so enthusiastic to welcome Lu Yin.
He was afraid that, if Lu Yin moved on to another parallel universe of the Endless Frontier, there would be no one left to confront the Progenitor-level corpse king, which would doom the Big Stone Empire. Their entire civilization would be destroyed.
While carrying stones on their backs made the citizens of the Big Stone Empire appear honest and simply, they were actually quite cunning.
The emperor played the part of a warm and welcoming host to Lu Yin, who did not hold back from enjoying what he was offered. There were times when it was good to relax and enjoy. After all, a string that was stretched too taut would snap.
Lu Yin had spent several years hidden within the Sixverse Association, and he was mentally exhausted.
The peaceful songs and dances of the Big Stone Empire were a sharp contrast to what Lu Yin had experienced in both the Lilliput Universe and the Gemini Universe.
The relaxing atmosphere was also a sharp contrast to the distant battlefield in the universe where the fighting occurred.
The Endless Frontier was a meat grinder, and most people who arrived on the battlefield feared being forced to fight until they were finally killed. However, there were also people who would always find ways to enjoy themselves no matter where they were.
The emperor had been carefully observing Lu Yin, and when the man saw no sign of disgust from Lu Yin, the emperor sighed. "Mister Lu, you are truly rare among the various heroes I’ve encountered. I thought that you would not be satisfied with what we can offer you."
"Why would I not be satisfied? Their dance is quite beautiful," Lu Yin casually replied.
The emperor smiled, and down below, a group of cultivators from the Great Stone Empire as well as some cultivators from the Sixverse Association laughed. "Not everyone can accept what we offer. I would like to offer a toast to Mister Lu."
"To Mister Lu!"
Lu Yin downed his drink and then observed the emperor. "Your injury is rather serious."
The man answered in a bitter tone, "It will take at least a few more years for me to recover."
Lu Yin looked back at the others who were present. Some of them were also injured, but some had no wounds at all. The emperor had been seriously injured, and from what Lu Yin could observe, the man could not rejoin the battlefield, so he spent his time relaxing. The man did not fear death.
The following day, the emperor led Lu Yin to the place where he could select his own stone.
"Mister Lu, sometimes it's not that people from my Big Stone Universe are unwilling to fight on the battlefield, but rather that they are unable to do so. We only have so many stones, and while some of them are used by combatants, others are needed to protect the data center, and others are needed to protect the Big Stone Empire itself. Thus, our empire has very little choice in the matter," the emperor shared as he stared at a pit of stones before them.
Lu Yin stared at the massive pit. It contained tens of thousands of stones, and what he could see was less than a tenth of the entire pit.
Before visiting this place, Lu Yin had assumed that the people of the Big Stone Empire treated their stones with respect, so he was surprised to see that they just casually tossed them into a pit.
"Where did all of these stones come from?" Lu Yin asked. He had studied a bit of the power that was contained within the stones, and it seemed that a person’s cultivation determined the stone that best suited them.
For example, the emperor himself carried a stone that possessed the power of a Semi-Progenitor, which meant that it should be able to protect the man from a corresponding reaction from the laws of the universe.
The emperor proceeded to slowly reveal the history of the Big Stone Empire.
It was not a complicated story; an unprecedentedly powerful expert had visited the Big Stone Universe, and while no one understood what he did, after he died, the universe’s laws had changed. Fortunately, before dying, the powerhouse had found a meteorite and imprinted his own power into it before shattering it.
Anyone who carried a fragment of that meteorite would be protected from the laws of the universe. Without those stones, the universe would have no cultivators at all.
Lu Yin listened in solemn silence. This powerhouse had altered the underlying laws of the Big Stone Universe, and for him to have done so, he had to at least be as powerful as the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, if not at the level of Lord Xu.
"That powerhouse was the first emperor of our Big Stone Empire, while I am already the 1,269th generation," the emperor said while shaking his head. "I pity my ancestor, as after his first generation, not a single peak powerhouse has appeared in our Big Stone Empire.”
Lu Yin pursed his lips. The ancient powerhouse was able to become a Progenitor even with the laws of the Big Stone Universe. Just how powerful must they have been?
If Lu Yin had been born in the Big Stone Empire, he would have never been able to cultivate to his current level.
"Mister Lu, you can choose from any of these stones. It is best if you choose a stone that is close to your own level of cultivation, as otherwise it will be too difficult for you to fight a corpse king while also remaining on guard against the universe’s laws," the emperor cautioned.
Lu Yin looked behind the man, and the emperor’s eyebrows rose. "My own stone is one that I inherited, as it is the same stone used by all the previous emperors. You should not try this one, Mister Lu."
Lu Yin replied, "You don’t have to worry. That one’s useless to me even if you gave it to me, as it’s not strong enough."
The emperor’s eyes flickered at Lu Yin’s comment. This explained how the young man had been able to drive away that extremely powerful corpse king. While Lu Yin’s cultivation was not particularly high, he possessed the combat strength to face off against peak powerhouses. Only a stone with that level of energy could meet Lu Yin’s needs.
However, that depended entirely on whether Lu Yin could find such a stone.
In fact, the emperor felt rather torn and confused at the moment. Lu Yin was present to help protect the Big Stone Empire, and naturally, the emperor should be helping however possible and find the most suitable stone for Lu Yin. However, the only suitable stone was reserved for when someone from the Big Stone Universe broke through and became a Stone Emperor. It had never been offered to an outsider, and to do so would go against the ancestor’s teachings. Even so, the emperor wondered if he should give Lu Yin that stone.
Lu Yin looked down at the pit of stones, finding the situation rather odd. "I'm here to help your Big Stone Empire fight against Aeternus, so why do I need to find my own stone? Shouldn’t you be helping me, Senior?"
The emperor shrugged helplessly. "You mustn’t blame me, Mister Lu. I’m merely following the teachings of my ancestor."
Lu Yin looked at the man with a half-smile that was not really a smile. "When your ancestor laid down his rules for your people, were you already fighting against Aeternus?"
The emperor hesitated. "Well, not yet."
"Your ancestor could not predict the future of the Big Stone Empire, and I believe that, if he had known how things would turn out, he would have never made that rule. However, this is honestly just a waste of time," Lu Yin commented. He did not wait for an answer from the emperor and casually caused an inconspicuous stone to fly up from the pit.
This stone was a bit smaller than most of the others, but because of its runes, Lu Yin was certain that this was the best stone for him. After all, it possessed the densest and most chaotic energies.
The emperor had been internally debating whether he should help Lu Yin find that particular stone, so he actually felt relieved when he saw that he did not need to struggle with that dilemna any longer. Still, he felt a bit apologetic to Lu Yin.
When the emperor saw the stone that Lu Yin had selected, he was stunned for a moment, and then his expression changed drastically. "Mister Lu, what are you doing?"
The stone was calmly floating in front of Lu Yin. Because he had used a bit of energy, the laws of the universe had silently appeared and was about to descend upon Lu Yin.
Lu Yin immediately placed the stone atop his head, and the power within the stone flashed, causing the universe’s laws to disappear.
The emperor stared in a daze, as Lu Yin had selected the exact stone that the emperor had been debating giving to the young man. How had he found the stone on his own, and so quickly at that?
After the Big Stone Universe had been integrated into the Endless Frontier, the emperor had encountered many powerhouses from the Sixverse Association, but none of them had ever given off the same feeling as Lu Yin. This youth did not radiate an aura of power and inviolability, but rather one of mysteriousness.
It was clear that Lu Yin’s cultivation was not too high, but he had expressed the utmost confidence in dealing with one of the Aeternals’ most powerful corpse kings. On top of that, he had found the best stone from the pit almost instantly. Not even the emperor himself could have found the stone as quickly as Lu Yin.
As these thoughts flashed through the emperor’s mind, he offered Lu Yin a solemn bow. "My Big Stone Empire will need to trouble you, Mister Lu."
Lu Yin glanced at the man. "Show me the way to the bestowal art carrier."
Lu Yin was asking to be directed to the battlefield for peak powerhouses in the Big Stone Universe. It was the most terrifying and dangerous location in the entire universe. Not only was it where the camphor bug and the bestowal art carrier faced off against each other, but it was also where most of the Semi-Progenitor level experts fought in the Big Stone Universe.
The emperor personally led Lu Yin along, and after half an hour, they arrived at the battlefield.
The Big Stone Universe was massive, and it was comparable in size to the Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse, Innerverse, and Starfall Sea combined, though it was not as large as the entire Fifth Mainland.
Far away, Lu Yin caught the sight of a familiar object: the bestowal art carrier.
When Lu Yin had first seen one of the massive carriers, he had been shocked. These devices allowed the Transcendent Universe to fight against cultivators as strong as Progenitors. This was something that Lu Yin could never have dreamed of before leaving the Fifth Mainland.
A machine created by humans was actually able to match the destructive power that only a person who had reached the peak was capable of unleashing. All that could be said was that while human cultivation held limitless potential, so too did human creativity.
Battles were being fought in every direction around the bestowal art carrier, several of which Lu Yin noticed had Semi-Progenitor-level experts.
However, none of the experts currently fighting on the battlefield could compare to the emperor of the Big Stone Empire. The man had reached the peak of his cultivation realm, and he was at the same level as Elder Gong, who was just a step away from triggering his breakthrough to become a Progenitor. Unfortunately, as long as the emperor remained in the Big Stone Universe, he would never be able to break through.
As for the emperor’s combat power, Lu Yin had never seen the man fight, so he had no way of measuring it.
"The bestowal art carrier’s opponent is the camphor bug. It wraps its wings around the machine to stop it from launching any attacks, and no matter how powerful the attacks from the bestowal art carrier might be, they are unable to break through those wings. However, the camphor bug is also tied up by the bestowal art carrier, unable to leave.
"If the two are compared, then the camphor bug cannot compare to the destructive power of the carrier and is almost unable to even attack. The best that it can do is try to crush something with its body. From the perspective of Aeternus, that camphor bug is actually tying the carrier down here," the emperor explained the state of the battlefield to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin observed the distant form of the camphor bug. It was even bigger than the bestowal art carrier. At first glance, it looked like a massive cockroach with enormous transparent wings that could spread out. They were just long enough to wrap around the bestowal art carrier.
"The bestowal art carriers need a comparable sourcebox in order to release attacks at the level of a peak powerhouse. Who provides the necessary sourceboxes?" Lu Yin suddenly thought of something and asked.
The term sourcebox seemed to be universal, just like how the Sixverse Association also used and called communication crystals that.
The emperor replied, "While my Big Stone Empire is not overly large, we boast a long history that goes back to even before the Sixverse Association was established. We still have some sourceboxes."
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up as the man spoke. The emperor understood what Lu Yin wanted, and he said with a smile, "If you need them, I can offer you some. Besides, because of how the camphor bug has kept the carrier from being used for so long, we have some sourceboxes saved up."
"Then that’s settled. Thank you, Senior," Lu Yin responded politely. The more sourceboxes he could obtain, the better. Even without bestowal art carriers, the Fifth Mainland had designs for many sourcebox arrays, but they needed sourceboxes to properly implement them.
A sourcebox array was not necessarily any weaker than the Transcendent Universe’s Bestowal Art. Progenitor Hui had developed Ceaseless Impetus, which had kept Aeternus restricted to the rear battlefield behind the Perennial World’s Mother Tree, and Gu Yue had used a sourcebox array to seal the spatial passage connecting the Fifth Mainland to the Three Monarchs Universe. Sourcebox arrays could be incredibly powerful, and the more that Lu Yin had access to, the better.
With this, Lu Yin had already obtained some benefits from being in the Big Stone Universe.
He grew solemn, and as the emperor of the Big Stone Empire watched in a daze, the young man pulled out a slipper. "It's time to purge this universe."
Purging the Big Stone Universe would be impossible for others, as even someone as powerful as Xu Wuwei might not be able to break through the camphor bug’s defenses, but Lu Yin was different. He had the slipper, and if given enough time, he could use it to kill even Undying God, let alone some bug.
No one paid any attention to Lu Yin's arrival. The fighting on this battlefield had never stopped for far too long. As long as the camphor bug did not move, the stalemate would continue in this universe.
The people on this battlefield still had not been informed that a Progenitor-level corpse king had already arrived in the universe.
However, what was truly odd was the fact that the giant corpse king had not revealed itself.
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